'He is going to go far'

When Eric Sloan takes to the runway for Delta College in the spring, there will be a lot of people left in his dust.

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By Dave Campbell

recordnet.com

By Dave Campbell

Posted Aug. 4, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By Dave Campbell
Posted Aug. 4, 2013 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

When Eric Sloan takes to the runway for Delta College in the spring, there will be a lot of people left in his dust.

After an injury to his patellar tendon the week of his first track meet of his senior year at Bear Creek in 2012, Sloan did not triple or long jump until this March. He redshirted his freshman year at Delta College, and Saturday he competed in an all-comers meet at the Merv Smith Track Complex and shattered the competition with a long jump of 23 feet, 23/4 inches and a triple jump of 49-7.

"I came back in March," Sloan said. "The long jump is not really my strong event, but I feel like I can go a lot farther. I just have to put in the work."

Delta College jumpers coach Lester Bond has had Sloan on his radar for a number of years, first seeing Sloan as a ninth-grader at a track-and-field clinic.

"I knew he was going to be something," Bond said. "And while he is strong, he is not strong like he is going to be."

Bond referred to Sloan's long-jumping technique as a one-and-one-half bicycle, one in which he rotates his legs as if he pedaled one-and-one-half revolutions on a bicycle.

"Jesse Owens and Bob Beamon used the one-bicycle rotation on their jumps and Ralph Boston used a one-and-one-half," Bond said. "Eric uses an extra half a rotation and that helps him fight off the effects of gravity. It's like ballet, but you land in a hurry. He does not have to worry about holding his position like those in the hanging or chair styles, because his style is mechanical all the way through.

"If you can learn that one-and-one-half style, you have done well."

The hanging style - arms extended to the sky - and the chair style - knees into the chest as if the jumper was sitting in a chair - are more common styles of long jumping.

"All takeoffs and approaches are pretty much the same," Bond said. "You are supposed to have controlled speed, not out-of-control speed.

"But when you take off, you have to fly before you land, and there are several flight styles. Some people use a hanging style where they take off and throw their hands up. And if your takeoff isn't good, you can look very pretty in doing that, but you won't go very far."

Sloan has yet to compete for Delta, but has already outjumped the school record in the triple jump.

"Although he was not on the team at the Golden West meet, he has already surpassed the school record at 50-5," Bond said. "With his attention to detail and the way he works out, he is going to go far."

While 49-7 was Sloan's best mark Saturday, he had two jumps in excess of 50 that were scratches.

"I hope to go 53 or 54 next year in the triple," said Sloan, who hopes to be a part of Oregon's highly regarded track-and-field program some day. "And 24 or 25 in the long. I'll be focusing on school and if I can hit those marks, hopefully I can get a scholarship."